OWOSSO, Mich. — Personnel expenditures account for 89
percent of the budget in Owosso Public Schools, so that’s where the district will
look to resolve a projected $5 million deficit over the next two years,
according to The (Owosso) Argus-Press.

The district must submit a deficit elimination plan to the
state by Dec. 15, The Argus-Press reported. A draft plan calls for reducing
salary costs 15 percent, reducing benefit costs 33 percent and decreasing costs
in other areas by 5 percent, board trustee General Grant said, according to The
Argus-Press.

Employee contracts expire on June 30, 2011, The Argus-Press
reported.

The district expects to finish the 2010-2011 fiscal year in
the red by about $600,000, while the projected deficit in 2011-2012 is $4.6
million, according to The Argus-Press.

“There’s a lot of ways to get it to 15 percent without
necessarily whacking everybody’s wages by 15 percent,” Washington Elementary
Principal Mark Erickson said regarding reducing salary costs, according to The
Argus-Press.